The present invention relates to floor and table lamps suitable for home or office illumination and, more particularly, to such lamps which include a metal halide bulb as the primary light source and which may further include one or more auxiliary light bulbs, such as incandescent or compact fluorescent bulbs, as a secondary light source. The secondary source may be illuminated separately from, or in combination with, the metal halide primary source.
The advantages of metal halide lighting include excellent lighting characteristics, long bulb life, and low cost per lumen of light output. These advantages are well known and have been exploited in various outdoor, commercial, and industrial applications such as street lighting, sports facility lighting, floodlighting, interior retail store lighting, and interior warehouse lighting.
Previously, metal halide lighting for floor and table lamps suitable for home or office illumination has been impractical due to the bulky hardware and complex electrical gear required by metal halide lighting fixtures.
Metal halide lighting fixtures require complex electrical wiring between the electrical components required to operate the bulb and the bulb socket which is critical to the proper operation of the lamp. In typical prior art metal halide floor or table lamps, the electrical components required to operate a metal halide bulb, i.e., the power supply, electronic circuitry, and associated controls, are typically located in the base of the lamp which is usually physically separated from a luminaire enclosing the metal halide socket and bulb. Because the base and luminaire are physically separated, the complex electrical wiring is usually performed during assembly of the lamp adding time and costs to the lamp assembly and requiring a much higher skilled workforce than if the wiring were performed prior to lamp assembly.
Another disadvantage of the typical prior art metal halide floor and table lamps due to the physical separation between the electronic components and the bulb sockets is the generation of radio frequency interference ("RFI") which may affect the operation of other devices such as a television or radio. These lamps often require the inclusion of additional components to suppress the RFI which adds to the cost of the lamps.
One prior approach to eliminate the need for lamp manufacturers to perform the critical electrical wiring during lamp assembly and to reduce RFI is to include the required electrical components in an electronic control capsule in the base of the metal halide bulb. This approach, however, provides an unsightly bulb which is less efficient and more expensive than a standard metal halide bulb.
Metal halide floor and table lamps for home or office illumination often include one or more auxiliary light bulbs such as incandescent or compact fluorescent bulbs for providing a secondary source of light. The auxiliary bulb or bulbs may be illuminated separately from or in combination with the metal halide bulb as desired. The auxiliary bulbs are typically arranged in a cluster which positions the auxiliary bulbs relative to the metal halide bulb and uses rigid tubing (typically referred to as S-arms) to support the auxiliary bulb sockets. Such an arrangement also requires critical electrical wiring to the auxiliary sockets during lamp assembly, thus adding time and cost to the lamp assembly.
Another important consideration in multiple bulb lamps is the relative position of each bulb to the others. It is desirous to position the bulbs to minimize shadowing which results when a bulb casts a shadow due to the light emanating from another bulb. The mounting of the bulbs in a cluster using S-arms may reduce shadowing, however, the S-arms are susceptible to bending and do not arrange the bulbs in a space efficient manner.
The luminaire which includes the cluster of bulbs also typically includes a light diffusion device such as a lamp shade to reduce glare from the illuminated bulbs. Because the cluster arrangement using S-arms is not space efficient, i.e., the bulbs are not tightly arranged, a relatively large lamp shade is required to reduce the glare, but the shade also reduces the light output from the lamp.
As previously discussed, the advantages of metal halide lighting include excellent lighting characteristics. The metal halide bulb provides natural, full-spectrum light which is glare free making metal halide floor and table lamps an excellent light source for reading or working on a computer. There is a need for providing glare free light at a computer workstation in both the home and office. Hotels, in particular, have a need for a lamp which provides a computer workstation and glare free light source in guest rooms to accommodate the business traveller. In one aspect of the present invention, the lamp base includes a power receptacle and dataport to provide a computer workstation integral with the metal halide lighting which is suitable to meet the needs of hotels.
Many people are adversely affected by seasonal lighting changes. Such effects may be alleviated by providing natural, full-spectrum light to simulate sunlight at predetermined times of the day. Thus there is a need for a floor or table lamp providing the natural full-spectrum light from a metal halide source which may be automatically controlled to illuminate at specified times of the day. In another aspect of the present invention, the illumination of the metal halide and auxiliary lamps may be automatically controlled by a timing device.
The present invention obviates many of the deficiencies of the prior art metal halide floor or table lamp suitable for home or office illumination.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a novel metal halide floor or table lamp suitable for use in the home or office and a novel method of manufacture of such lamps.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a novel metal halide floor or table lamp and a novel method of manufacture enabling those of but ordinary skill to assemble the lamp.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a novel metal halide floor or table lamp with the electronic components and bulb socket within a unitary housing.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a novel combination metal halide and auxiliary bulb floor or table lamp which reduces RFI.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a novel metal halide floor or table lamp using both metal halide and auxiliary bulbs which may be selectively illuminated individually or in combination.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a novel combination metal halide and auxiliary bulb floor or table lamp which minimizes shadowing when multiple bulbs are illuminated.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a novel combination metal halide and auxiliary bulb floor or table lamp including a timing device in the lamp base to provide automatic illumination of the bulbs to alleviate the adverse affects of seasonal light changes.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a novel metal halide floor or table lamp including a base which provides a computer workstation.
These and many other objects and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to one skilled in the art to which the invention pertains from a perusal of the claims, the appended drawings, and the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments.